The Heart of the Matter
by hilarycantdraw
Summary: A normal case takes an unexpected turn when a little girl becomes involved. This one is fairly fluffy, so be warned   . Rated 'T' for possible situations in future chapters... that's not ambiguous, right?
1. Chapter 1

**I have a raging case of plot bunnies in my brain, and they have produced this for all of you! I'm most definitely still working on my other two, though, I just had to get this out of my head. Reviews are lovely! I hope you enjoy this =)**

Brennan and Booth had received a case early one Wednesday morning. Booth had gotten the call around 5 am and he had immediately made his way to Brennan's apartment, coffee in hand. They drove to the crime scene where they found the body of a man in his mid-thirties in the basement of a parking garage. Brennan estimated he had been there for a little over a day, and that rats had sped up the decomposition, the cause of death appeared to be a bullet hole in the man's frontal bone. He had a license in the wallet they found in his pocket, according to that his name was Larry Harris, though they would need to confirm his identity. It was a long morning for both of them, full of annoying rookie agents and mistakes made by interns, and by the time Angela positively id-ed the victim, both Booth and Brennan were running low on patience. They reluctantly made their way to Booth's SUV to make a visit to the victim's apartment.

"I cannot believe that Ms. Wick actually misplaced the victim's hand," Brennan huffed. It was true, somehow the intern had managed to lose the victim's right hand after Cam had used it to take prints. They had located it quickly, of course, but Brennan was still annoyed.

"I know Bones, you know what I can't believe?" Booth said, in an equally irritated tone, "I can't believe that I was asked by an agent how to use crime scene tape. Really, who can't figure that out?"

"I just want to go home and rest," Brennan pressed her fingers to her temples, feeling a tension headache setting in.

"Me too Bones, but we both know that won't happen till we solve the case." They spent the rest of the ride in silence. They pulled up to an apartment building and quickly found the number they were looking for. Booth knocked loudly, and drew his gun as a precaution, "FBI, open the door." They waited but heard no movement.

"Do the shoulder thing," Brennan encouraged.

"Or we could just go get the landlord," Booth said, cringing at the thought of the pain in his shoulder.

"Fine," Brennan agreed, slightly disappointed. She would never admit that she enjoyed watching him use his impressive strength. As they turned to walk away, Brennan grabbed his arm to stop him. "Do you hear that?" She asked moving back towards the door.

"Hear what?" Booth raised his eyebrows at her expectantly.

Brennan pressed her ear to the door and listened for a moment, "Crying, someone is in there crying," she looked at her partner and saw her own worry echoed in his expression.

"The shoulder thing it is then," he muttered, ramming into the door as she moved out of the way. Luckily, the door was thin and gave way with the first blow. They stepped inside quickly, Booth first, his gun in hand.

"Booth," Brennan whispered, placing her hand on his arm, "in the corner." He looked to the corner of the room where he saw the top of a pale blonde head. He moved quickly to search the apartment, when he found no one, he put away his gun and approached the child, a little girl, who began to cry even louder.

"You're scaring her, Booth," Brennan chastised him, "let me try." She had become much more comfortable with children since their case with baby Andy, especially from spending time with her new nieces. She figured that the girl might be more comfortable being approached by a woman. Booth stepped back, calling in a team to search the apartment while allowing her to move closer to the girl who was hiding half behind a chair. "Hi," she said quietly, reaching a comforting hand out to smooth back the girl's light hair. "It's okay, we aren't here to hurt you. We want to help you okay?"

The girl had stopped to listen to her soothing voice, and nodded slightly, gazing up at her with teary blue eyes.

"My name is Temperance, and that man is Booth. We work with the police, and we are here to help you okay?" When the girl nodded again she continued, "What's your name, sweetie?" She copied Angela's favorite nickname, hoping to put the girl at ease.

"Lucy," she answered quietly.

"That's a pretty name. How old are you Lucy?" The girl held up two shaking fingers, "You're a big girl then, huh?" Brennan smiled warmly at her, and received a small smile in return, "Do you want to come out of your hiding place?" She offered her hands, and to her surprise, the little girl took them. Brennan picked her up and noticed immediately that the girl was in pajamas and a soiled pull-up. Her heart broke a little for the small girl, "How'd you like to get cleaned up, Lucy?" When she nodded, Brennan made her way towards the bathroom.

"What are you doing, Bones?" Booth asked, reentering the room. Brennan hadn't noticed him leaving to meet the agents who had arrived to process the apartment.

"I'm going to give her a bath." She responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Bones, the apartment needs to be processed before we disturb anything, you know that." Booth was surprised at her suggestion of breaking protocol.

"I know, Booth. However, she's a scared little girl who has been sitting around in a dirty pull-up for at least a day. She deserves a bath," Brennan said, a strange protectiveness rising inside her for the child in her arms.

"Process the bathroom now; make it quick and thorough," Booth said sternly to the surrounding agents, who looked slightly intimidated and complied immediately.

"Thanks, Booth," Brennan said quietly.

"Anytime. Did she tell you anything?" Booth looked at the girl clinging to his partner.

"Not much, her name is Lucy and she is two," she answered before turning her attention to Lucy. "Lucy," she said softly, "do you know where your mommy and daddy are?"

Lucy nodded, "Mama's in heaven." She paused, thinking, before continuing, "The bad men taked daddy."

Brennan raised her eyebrows at Booth, "What bad men, sweetie?"

"Daddy says they's bad, but they gots money. Where's daddy?" Her eyes filled with tears again, "I miss daddy."

Brennan had no idea how to answer her, so she decided to go with honesty, "Your daddy's with your mama now."

"Heaven?" Lucy asked, her lip trembling, and Brennan nodded. Lucy began to cry again, and Brennan understood that she was overwhelmed. The agents chose that moment to announce the bathroom was finished being searched, so Brennan tightened her grip on Lucy and headed for the tub. She ran warm water and filled it with some bubble bath that she found in the cabinet. Lucy was silent throughout the bath, and Brennan didn't push her to talk, but she sang quietly in a comforting tone while she bathed the little girl. She was careful to keep the suds out of Lucy's eyes, and when she finished, she pulled Lucy out of the tub and wrapped her in a large fluffy towel.

Booth hovered just outside the bathroom door, keeping an eye on the other agents while listening to Brennan's quiet singing with a small smile on his face. "Agent Booth?" A younger man approached him, holding out a piece of paper, "You're going to want to read this."

"What is it?" Booth asked, taking the paper.

"The victim's will," the agent answered solemnly.

As Booth began to read the document, he watched Brennan carry Lucy to her bedroom.

Brennan dressed Lucy in a blue striped dress with matching leggings. She could tell how much more comfortable Lucy was now that she was clean.

"Mimi?" Lucy asked quietly, pointing to a stuffed cat sitting on the bed. Brennan picked the toy up and handed it to Lucy who immediately smiled and hugged the cat tight.

"What's that?" She said as she exited the bedroom and approached Booth, who was still engrossed in the will. She moved to the cabinet and handed Lucy some cracker she found before turning back to Booth.

"It is the last will and testament of Larry Harris," he answered, looking up at her.

"Does it say anything about Lucy?" Brennan hoped that there would be someone who could care for the girl.

Booth gazed at her sadly, "Apparently she has no relatives left. The will specifically states that he releases her to the foster system. We've already called in a social worker." He watched Brennan's eyes darken and rested a hand on her shoulder, "I know it's hard for you to hear that Bones. I'm sorry."

She nodded slightly and held Lucy closer, she was nodding off, her head resting against Brennan's shoulder with Mimi clutched against her chest. She looked around, noticing the agents finishing up, "Make sure they get anything they found to the lab. I'll stay here with Lucy until the social worker arrives."

Booth simply nodded, knowing that he couldn't argue with her. He ordered an agent to stay, despite the fact that the apartment seemed safe, "I'll see you back at the lab Bones," he said as he left.

"I think that I'm going to take the rest of the afternoon off," she said quietly, for once she didn't want to run back to the lab, she wanted to go straight home and be left alone.

Fortunately, Booth understood, "Want me to let Cam know?" When she nodded he added, "I'll swing by your place with Thai tonight, okay?"

"Sure, bye Booth," as he left he could hear her humming to the little girl now asleep in her arms.

The social worker arrived and spoke with Brennan, who explained the situation again even though the woman had already spoken to Booth. When the woman rose from the couch and began to pack Lucy's things into trash bags Brennan made the most impulsive decision she had ever made in her life, "I'm a registered foster parent," she said and the woman turned to look at her, "I'd like to take her."

A few hours later, Brennan had signed the papers and had Lucy released into her custody. Typically things couldn't have happened that fast, but she may have used her fame to her advantage, something she wouldn't typically do but she was desperate. She made sure Lucy's things were packed, unfortunately she hadn't found anything other than trash bags. Then she grabbed the car seat she found in the closet and called a cab to return to her apartment. Lucy had slept almost the entire time, and only woke up as Brennan's doorman helped them out of the cab.

"Where are we?" She asked, sounding nervous as she clung to Brennan.

"You're going to stay at my house for a little while, would that be okay?" Brennan smiled as she nodded shyly. When they got to the apartment, Lucy helped Brennan unpack her things into drawers in the spare bedroom. When they were finished, Brennan smiled at her, "You're a good helper. I bet you're hungry though. Would you like dinner?" Lucy nodded, and Brennan decided that a trip to the grocery store would be necessary. She gave Lucy a granola bar to tide her over, knowing that she might not have eaten anything but the crackers she'd had earlier in more than a day. Brennan got the car seat into her car without much trouble and headed for the supermarket. An hour later they were back with supplies to make macaroni and cheese, and a cookie they bought at the in-store bakery.

Lucy sat and watched some TV as Brennan cooked, and once she had eaten dinner and dessert, she fell asleep again almost immediately, her head resting on the table. Brennan smiled at her and carried her into the guest room where she changed Lucy into a pull-up and pajamas. Brennan tucked her into bed and placed a kiss on her forehead before leaving the room with the door cracked open.

She sat down on the couch and froze for a second as she took in the events of the day. For a moment, she couldn't believe that she had agreed to take in a little girl, but she immediately felt she had done the right thing. It may have been a gut feeling, but she had the evidence to back it up. She knew what foster care was like, and that made her sure she had done the right thing. She cringed at the thought of Lucy spending even one night in a group home. She began to consider what she should do about Lucy's situation, knowing that she would not want to give the girl up, but her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Booth," she said, letting him in, "I forgot you were coming."

"That hurts Bones," he joked, but he stopped as he noticed the dishes left on the table, "oh, do you have company?" He asked, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Yes, but not the kind of company you think," she hesitated. "I brought Lucy home with me," she said, taking a seat on the couch. He sat next to her, dropping the bags of Thai on the coffee table.

"You what?" He stared at her incredulously.

"I'm a foster parent, remember? It's not like I kidnapped her. She is legally in my custody. I just don't know if I did the right thing," she looked at him, her round blue eyes troubled, "I just, I couldn't let her go to a group home." Her eyes began to fill with tears, "She's so small Booth, I couldn't let her go through what I went through."

As he watched his partner explain, he wondered if he could possibly be any more amazed by her than he was in that moment. He had always known that she had a wonderful heart, but he had never expected her to do anything like this. As she began to cry in earnest, he pulled her into a hug, "I think what you are doing is great, Bones. I really, really do, I know this will be a big change for you, but I know you're up to the challenge. And if you ever need any help I'm here for you, okay?"

She nodded and held him tighter. She was so relieved that he understood. They sat like that for a few minutes before he helped her clean up the mess from dinner with Lucy, before they settled on the couch with their food.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2! I hope you enjoy it! Reviews are lovely!**

Brennan woke up to the sound of crying. For a moment she was confused before she remembered _Lucy_. She immediately rushed towards the guest room where the two year old was curled into a small ball on top of the bed. Brennan sat down next to her and rubbed circles on her back, "What's wrong, sweetheart?" She asked quietly.

Lucy didn't answer, but she sat up and crawled into Brennan's arms, hugging her tightly.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Brennan asked, Lucy nodded against her chest, "It's okay, it's not real. Whatever it was isn't real. You're okay." As Lucy stopped crying and fell asleep Brennan moved to leave, but as soon as she did so Lucy's eyes flew open and her grip tightened. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

Lucy nodded, so Brennan crawled under the covers with the girl still clinging to her and they both fell asleep quickly.

The next time Brennan awoke, it was daylight and someone was poking her arm.

"Good morning, Lucy," she said as she opened her eyes, taking in the small figure hovering over her.

"Goo'morning!" Lucy seemed more cheerful than she had the night before. "I sorry, I don'member your name."

"My name is Temperance, but you can call me Tempe if that's too hard to say." Brennan answered as she brushed Lucy's tangled hair back from her face.

"Tempe, I'm hungry, when's breffest?" Brennan smiled at Lucy's pronunciation.

"We'll eat soon, but we have to get dressed first, okay?" Lucy nodded, her blue eyes bright. "And you're going to come to work with me today, okay? And probably tomorrow too, but I'm going to sign you up for a preschool after that, would you like to spend some time with kids your age?" Lucy nodded again, "Okay, let's get dressed."

Brennan found her phone and sent Booth a quick message, _Breakfast at the diner in half an hour?_ And he quickly replied, _Sure thing._ She smiled before putting her phone away and picking out an outfit for Lucy to wear. She found a yellow t-shirt with daisies on the front along with jeans and matching barrettes. She helped Lucy brush her teeth before dressing her and fixing her hair.

"Pigtails?" Lucy asked as her hair was being brushed. Brennan smiled she knew what pigtails were thanks to her nieces, so she ran the comb down Lucy's part before putting it into two ponytails with the barrettes for decoration. "Tanks!" Lucy said, looking at herself in the mirror. Brennan turned the TV on to Sesame Street before quickly getting dressed herself.

Once she was ready they packed a bag with a couple toys and books for Lucy and they left for the diner, only getting halfway down the hallway before Lucy realized she had forgotten Mimi the cat. A few minutes later, with Mimi in hand, they made it to the diner where they found Booth already waiting at their usual table.

"Morning, Booth," Brennan said, sliding into the chair across from him.

"Morning, Boot!" Lucy mimicked as Brennan helped her onto her seat.

"Someone's opening up today, huh?" Booth said with a smile.

"Yes, Lucy's been much more talkative this morning." Brennan said, "What do you want for breakfast, Lucy?"

"Ummm…. Muffin?" Lucy asked with a bright smile.

"You can have a muffin as long as you get some fruit with it, okay?" Booth smiled at the way Brennan was already sounding like a mother. "What kind of muffin do you want?"

"Booberry," Lucy answered decisively, "And chocolate milk?" She added hopefully.

"I suppose you could get some chocolate milk." Brennan smiled and gently tweaked her pale blonde pigtail. Then the waitress came and offered a booster seat and some crayons and a booklet for Lucy, which Brennan took gratefully before they ordered.

"So Bones, what do you plan on doing with Lucy today?" Booth asked once the waitress had left and Lucy was busy coloring.

Brennan answered thoughtfully, "I'm going to bring her to the lab with me. We have three interns today, so I'm going to let them see how much progress they can make on the body themselves. It'll be a good learning experience for them, and I'll be available if they have questions of course. I'll have to do the same tomorrow, but I'm going to work on finding a daycare for her, I'm hoping that the child center at the Jeffersonian has an open space." As she finished their food was brought out and Lucy smiled happily at her muffin before beginning to pick at it.

Booth laughed, "I'm sure for you they'd find a space. So you're going to actually take a weekend off then?"

Brennan smiled back at him, "Yes I am. I think on Saturday afternoon we're going to go shopping to find some things for Lucy's room and some new clothes and toys for her. I'm going to ask Ange to come, since she loves shopping. Maybe you could help me on Saturday morning, I'm going to move my office things into the guest room. I'm going to turn the office into Lucy's room, I never repainted that room so the walls are still light pink from the family who lived there before me." She paused for a second as the waitress brought the bill, "Lucy, would you like to have the room with the pink walls?"

Lucy smiled up at her, "Pink's my favorite!" She said emphatically. Brennan reached for the bill, but Booth waived her hand away.

She rolled her eyes but didn't argue. "We'll get you a new bedroom set this weekend, any one you want, okay?"

"Okay," Lucy agreed as they stood up to leave. She lifted her arms towards Brennan who picked her up easily.

"I'll meet you at the lab?" Booth said as he held the door open for them.

"Yes, actually if you get there first, which you will since Lucy takes awhile to get in her car seat, could you find Ange, Cam, and Hodgins? Have them wait in my office with you so that I can explain the situation with Lucy once instead of three separate times."

"Sure, I'll see you in a bit," Booth said, "Bye Lucy goosey!"

"Lucy goosey?" The little girl giggled, "Bye Boot," she said with a wave.

They arrived at the lab not too long after, and Lucy refused to let Brennan put her down, seeming intimidated by the starkness of the lab that was teeming with people in lab coats. Brennan walked quickly to her office, ignoring the curious looks she was getting.

She opened her office door and found Booth lounging on her couch. Angela, Hodgins, and Cam were there as well, though looking much less relaxed than Booth did.

"Hi everyone," Brennan said as she sat down at her desk with Lucy in her lap. She received three flabbergasted looks and a cheery wave from Booth, who then began to make faces at Lucy, who laughed. "So, I had Booth bring you here because-"

She was interrupted by Angela, who seemed to have recovered from her immediate shock, "Bren, there's a child in your lap."

"Yes, Booth and I found her at our victim's apartment yesterday-" Brennan huffed as she was interrupted again.

"What?" Angela said, more confused than ever.

"If you would stop interrupting, I could explain," she looked at Angela, making sure she'd stay silent. "Yesterday Booth and I found Lucy alone in her father's apartment. Both of her parents are gone and we found her father's will, stating that he released her custody to the foster system. As you know, I am a registered foster parent so I took her, and I'd like to eventually adopt her." She found herself staring three sets of raised eyebrows and one fish face, as Booth continued to distract Lucy. "I realize that this may seem sudden, and it is, but I have thought this through. I will keep her with me today and tomorrow while I work on securing a spot for her at a daycare. I figure that it will be a good opportunity for the interns to work independently. We do have three this week, right?" She directed her question towards Cam.

"Yes, we have Daisy, Wendell, and Nigel," she answered quickly, still looking slightly overwhelmed

"Good. Now, I should probably introduce all of you. Lucy," the small girl in her lap looked up from her game with Booth, "These are my friends. This is Angela," she gestured to Ange who waved.

"Annala," Lucy repeated with a wave.

"Hodgins…" Hodgins waved too.

"Hossins," Lucy said and gave him a small smile

"And Cam," Brennan finished.

"Cam," Lucy smiled, "Annala, Hossins, Cam, and Boot!" She beamed, proud of her memory.

"Good job," Brennan said, dropping a kiss on her head, "Why don't you go play with your crayons at the coffee table." Lucy nodded and slid off Brennan's lap and grabbed her art supplies.

"She is just adorable," Angela said, her hand resting on her pregnant stomach, "How old is she?"

"Two," Brennan answered. "Ange I was wondering if you want to come shopping with us on Saturday because we need things for her room and she could use some new clothes."

"I'd love to come with you, have I ever said no to shopping?" She flashed Brennan a bright smile.

"Well, everyone can get back to work now, but could one of you send the interns in here please?" Everyone dutifully left the office, still looking confused, and Booth set up lunch plans before leaving.

The three interns entered the office and they had similar reactions as the others had to Lucy.

"There's a child in here," Vincent observed redundantly.

"Wow, you're starting them young these days, huh Dr. B?" Wendell commented, not looking too upset that she didn't get the joke.

"Aw, she's so cute!" Daisy gushed.

"That is Lucy, I'm planning on adopting her." She said bluntly, "She's going to be here for a couple days, so I'm going to have the three of you continue working the case alone, though I expect periodic updates and you can come to me with any questions. Okay?" The three interns nodded, "Good. Lucy," Lucy looked over at the sound of her name, "These are my interns, you'll see them here often. Their names are Nigel, Wendell, and Daisy." She gestured to each intern as she named them.

"Nile, Wennell, Daisy," Lucy repeated, pointing.

"Good. Now the three of you should get to work, let me know when you find something." As soon as they left the office Brennan leaned back in her chair, watching Lucy color for a moment before she turned to her computer and began working on some old files.


End file.
